Partners

Pirelli

Pirelli is delighted to return to the FFSA French GT Championship as part of the 2017 GT4 European Series promoted by SRO, which is also behind the headlining Blancpain GT Series, where Pirelli has a long-term tyre supply agreement. The Italian manufacturer already supplies the GT4 European Series Northern Cup, the sister category of the Southern Cup.

SRO and Pirelli, which exclusively supplies the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, will also launch the Pirelli Junior Cup in both GT4 European Series, an initiative aimed at supporting Bronze or Silver drivers (per FIA categorisation) aged between 16 and 26.

At every round, the youngster who has scored the most points over the whole weekend will be declared the Pirelli Junior Cup winner for that event. He/she will be awarded with one set of Pirelli tyres to use at the next meeting. The final round winner will have to collect his/her prize the following year or during a test session.

There will also be an overall winner – the young driver who has scored the most points throughout the entire season –, who will be presented with a special Pirelli trophy.

SRO has always been keen to nurture rising talents and already offers free tyres in blue riband championships such as the Blancpain GT Series. The Pirelli Junior Cup ensures the philosophy extends to both GT4 European Series.

The GT4 European Series Southern Cup is proud to welcome BMW as its manufacturer partner. Involvement in racing has always been etched in the German luxury car manufacturer’s DNA, whether it is in planes, bikes, and cars. The launch of BMW M in the early 1970s already embodied that philosophy. Drawing upon BMW’s experience and featuring field-proven components, the BMW M models have shown great performance both on track and on the road thanks to an architecture developed in-house at BMW’s Motorsport department.

In order to ensure security for everyone on track, BMW will provide two models from the BMW M models that will serve as the GT4 European Series Southern Cup Safety Car and Leading Car. The latter will take position at the helm of the field on the formation lap before setting the competitors free just before the race gets under way.

Based around the iconic BMW M4, the Ekris M4 GT4 features among the 14 cars already homologated for GT4.

Premium racing safety equipment specialists Stand 21 are happy to team up with SRO as technical partners of the revived FFSA French GT Championship.

Drawing upon over 47 years of experience, Stand 21 already has many satisfied customers racing across SRO-organised championships, while also supporting the British GT in a similar partnership.

Involvement in the GT4 European Series will further strengthen Stand 21’s commitment to high-level categories and allow drivers to benefit from the French company’s renowned expertise as they attend almost every round of the season.

The GT4 European Series Southern Cup will enjoy optimum media coverage thanks to SRO’s partnership with la chaine L'Équipe, France’s first free-to-air broadcaster exclusively dedicated to sports and available on TNT’s channel 21. La chaine L’Équipe just posted record ratings with a market share of 1.1% over the month of February 2017.

During the week following each round, la chaine L’Équipe will have an 80-minute show to recap the events from the meeting, which will include extended race highlights but also funny snippets from the paddock.

SRO is delighted to announce that Total ACS – for Additives and Special Fuels – will be the official fuel supplier for the GT4 European Series Southern Cup over the 2017-2019 period.

For over 50 years, Total ACS has been designing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing bespoke high-performance fuels on a worldwide basis. Total ACS is already supplying SRO’s blue riband Blancpain GT Series, while also sponsoring the world’s biggest GT race in the Total 24 Hours of Spa. The French fuel giant will now bring its renowned expertise to all competitors in the GT4 European Series Southern Cup, while continuing to supply the sister Northern Cup.

From 2017 to 2019, Total ACS’ factory in Givors near Lyon will thus provide:

a field-proven fuel, compliant with FIA standards and tailored for both turbocharged and normally aspirated engines: the ELF LM®S fuel has been successfully used across a variety of racing series for several seasons.

a very careful quality of manufacturing: over the next three years, Total ACS will continue to do its utmost in supplying fuels with rigorously consistent characteristics, thus ensuring maximum comfort for engine manufacturers all the while taking into account the powertrain component in the Balance of Performance.

a customer-oriented service from a support team trackside that is well-versed in the GT environment, as well as a shared passion and dedication to the sporting excellence conveyed by all SRO championships.

Last but not least, 2017 will be all the more special for SRO and Total ACS as they celebrate a 20-year partnership across several categories.

SRO is glad to have www.endurance-info.com, one of the leading websites on GT racing, as the official media partner of the GT4 European Series Southern Cup. Endurance-Info will cater to fans with extensive coverage of the championship, including news, reports, features, and interviews. Editor-in-chief Laurent Mercier will also provide live French commentary at every round of the season

SRO is pleased to welcome Car Life Magazine to its pool of media partners. The successful magazine was launched in 2013 by former SRO-affiliated drivers Paul Belmondo and Thierry Soave, who believed there was a different way to treat cars and the automotive industry in the media. Both also agreed that the decrease in print sales was not a foregone conclusion.

Thus Car Life was born, the first lifestyle magazine devoted to cars, where vehicles provide great excuses to talk about road trips, gastronomy, fashion, and watchmaking, along with expert contributions in fields as diverse as sailing, bikes, historic cars, and planes. In a nutshell, Car Life caters to men with a passion for the finer goods and art de vivre.

Throughout the 2017 GT4 European Series Southern Cup season, Car Life will have several features on the championship, including a very special test with French philosopher Luc Ferry driving the Maserati GranTurismo GT4. The former Minister for Youth, National Education and Research is indeed a contributor to Car Life and he has proved to be quite handy at the wheel too!

In joining French TV channel la chaine L’Équipe and leading GT racing website Endurance-Info as media partner of the GT4 European Series Southern Cup, Car Life contributes towards ensuring optimum coverage for the championship.

Reliability, precision and innovation have underlined the Certina philosophy since 1888, year of the foundation of the company by the Kurth Brothers. In 1959, Certina developed its famous Double Security DS Concept, to bring to its watches exceptional sturdiness and outstanding water resistance. Certina has a long-standing commitment to sport, and motor racing in particular. It has stood next to a long list of great sport stars such as Mike Doohan, Sete Gibernau, Thomas Lüthi and Robert Kubica, and was for more than ten years Official Partner of the Sauber F1 Team. Since 2013, the brand has been Official Timekeeper of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and, since 2015, Partner of the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. A subsidiary of the world's largest international watchmaking organisation The Swatch Group, Certina is currently world leader in the sport-watch segment priced between CHF 300.- and CHF 2,000. , and is represented in more than 60 countries.